Fantasy Basketball Strategy

“The Dude abides” There are 2 rules to “ Abide” by for a successful Fantasy basketball draft. Draft the sure thing and draft for value. While they sound simple, they are both different. Drafting the sure thing starts with the first the pick. LeBron is easily the best player in fantasy, Durant might be a better scorer, but doesn’t get the assists like Bronie. There stats from last year are identical, except in assists, where LBJ averaged 8.6 ast to KD’s 2.8. There are 4 players going in the first or second round that just don’t make sense. Steph Curry, Gerald Wallace, J-Kidd and CH-CH-Ch- Chauncey BILLUPSS ( such a fun name to say).

Steph Curry is great and all, however his numbers last year were anything but great. He averaged 17.5 Pts, 4.5 rebs, 5.9 ast, and 3.1 TO’s per game. O. J. Mayo averaged 17.5 pts, 3.8 rebs, 3 ast, and 2.1 TO’s per game. So while most people are taking Curry late first to early second, I’ll pass and take O.J. and his white bronco in round 5 or 6.

G “Dubs” Wallace had a career high of 76 games played last year, 71 Games the year before, and 62 before that. This guy can produce when he is on the court, Key phrase is “ On the Court”. He will get hurt and it will be frustrating.

Jason Kidd- The ageless wonder is always getting Bounds and Assist which make up for his lack scoring so what makes this year different than any other year? First off, his stats are not impressive 10.3 Pts, 5.6 Rebs, and 9.1 Ast. 2nd,Dallas has Rodrigue Beaubois waiting in the wings and Jason “ the Jet” Terry coming off the bench.

Chauncey is another crafty veteran who has a youngen (Ty Lawson) waiting in the wings. When Carmelllo departs, which is sooner rather than later, Billups value will take another hit. He’s not fast anymore and can’t create his own shot. Picking him over a younger player who has great potential is not recommended.

Now it’s time for some value picks. This year there are a plethora of valuable forwards that can be attained in the later rounds.

J.J. Hickson- He was considered untouchable when the Cavs were discussing trading LBJ. He is going to get a lot of production and he is the future of the franchise= Great fantasy production. Twan ( Antwan Jamison) is a player who has always produced. The Cavs are going to rely heavily on these 2 guys which means you can rely on them producing for your fantasy teams.

Blake Griffin- The red shirt rookie is being forgotten by people. He has looked awesome in the preseason, yes its preseason, but the one thing to take from preseason is minutes played plus production. Last game he had 23 points,13 rebounds, and 4 assist in 24 minutes of action. If you have the chance to grab this guy in the 6th round or later, Don’t pass it up.

Dejuan Blair- This guy is a walking double – double, he’s going to get his chance to play and will be a great late draft pick. He averaged about 8 points and 6.4 rebounds in 17 minutes last year, double those stats and that’s what you can expect from him.

Yi Jianlian- He was aggressive during the world championships and has been solid when given the chance. The wizards are very thin at forward this year and Yi could be the first one off the bench or possibly the starter. He averaged 12 pts, 7.2 rebs and 1 block per game last year while playing about 32 minutes. Expect better production this year.

If you don’t gets these guys on your team then you will find yourself out of your element, a.k.a not doing well in your league. Next time I will take a look at the schedule for each team for the playoff rounds.